Fun with words

There's a new panel game starting on BBC4 on Thursday which will
interest some of you, I'm sure.

Tickettyboo...

I went to have a look at the 'sample' clips and I need a new Real Player .
Doesn't anything last these days? LOL

JoeH...

The last hour every day at w**k seems to last *forever* LOL

Tickettyboo...

Just the last one? LOL, that isn't too bad then Joe :-)

JoeH...

*Good point* - I suppose I must love w**k then. ;-)

pmj...

I think that may be cos they are RM (RealMedia) *Video* Clips,
rather than the usual Audio stuff that the BBC Radio Sites do.
& Yes, Video CoDecs *have* progressed (& improved a lot!) over the
Years since your RealPlayer (Version 8?) came out.

Tickettyboo...

Thanks pmj, that must have taken you some time. Unfortunately, time is

pmj...

Yes, it did take a while (but not *too* long, cos I know where
& how to look in a .RM (RealMedia) File to find out that sort of
Information about the CoDecs & stuff like that)...

something I just don't have much of atm, so I will save the post for about

pmj...

LOL!
So are you likely to be interested in what I found out about that
Eagle WebCam Streaming thing then?

I know you like to look at that Hornby Island Eagle Webcam, but the
other Night you were having probs with it buffering & things like that.

The actual Stream itself is only 341 kbps (about 30 KBytes/Sec)
So that's less than 1/3 of the Capacity of your ADSL Internet
Connection, so the prob isn't your end, it's at the Server(s) -
or on the Route between the Server(s) & you, somewhere.

But luckily they actually have *7* different Servers (in various
locations & on various Networks), so you can get a better Stream
if you choose the best Server for you.

That's all shown in the .ASF (Active Streaming Format) Meta File
that is on the Infotec Business Systems URL.

But actually *seeing* the Contents of the (Plain Text) .ASF File
is a little bit awkward, cos normally the Media Player just Opens
it up & handles it. [*1]

Normally a Media Player just picks one of the Servers at Random,
you need to *tell* it which Server to use.

{*1] There are (easy) ways that you use so you can see the actual
Plain Text Contents of the .ASF Meta Files, so you can then choose
the best Server for yourself.

next March :-)

The Links on the BBC Page for the Clips seem to go to a "Redirection"
Page, which (tries to) check the BandWidth of your Connection
& then ReDirects to another URL, depending on what TickBox you Tick,
if it can't suss it out for itself.

There's one URL for "Standard Quality" - NarrowBand - below 256 kbps
& another URL for "High Quality" - Broadband - above 256 kbps

Both of which then ReDirect (*again*!) to a Page with an Embedded
RealPlayer ActiveX Object in it (actually there are 2 different
RealPlayer ActiveX Objects in there, as well as a WMP - windoze Media
Player one), but there's also a Link to the .RAM (Real Audio Meta)
File for the chosen BandWidth...

NarrowBand

BroadBand

Each of which then contains (yet another!) Link - to the *actual*
RM Streams...
They contain the actual RTSP:// (Real Time Streaming Protocol)
URLs of the Streams...

NarrowBand
rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/bbcfour/media/nb/fullstops2_16x9_nb.rm

Broadband
rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/bbcfour/media/bb/fullstops2_16x9_bb.rm

Try Copying & Pasting *those* Links?
& try both the nb - NarrowBand ones & the bb - BroadBand ones?

You could also try using your StreamBox VCR thingy, to Download
the .RM File, rather than letting your RealPlayer just try to Play
it Online?

The .RM File for the NarrowBand one is only about 190 KB in Size
& the .RM File for the BroadBand one is about 565 KB in Size

I had a look at the Stream Statistics/Properties, to see what Codec
they used & it says (for the NarrowBand one)...

BitRate = 8.5 Kbps

Statistics.Player0.Source0.Stream0.Renderer =
AllCoDecs = sipr
Channels = 1
CoDec = 8.5 Kbps - RealAudio
CoDecFourCC = sipr
CoDecText = RealAudio4.0
Name = RealAudio
Rate = 3
SureStream = False

Now, that's nothing special & any old Version of RealPlayer
should be able to Play that OK!

Ah, hang on a mo! - That's just the *Audio* Stream...

The Info on the Statistics/Properties of the *Video* Stream
(again for the Narrowband one) says this...

BitRate = 71.5 Kbps

Statistics.Player0.Source0.Stream1.Renderer =
(Notice the "Stream1") bit, at the end there, rather than the
"Stream0" bit, which was the Audio)

AllCodecs =
AllFramerates = 15
CoDecFourCC = rv40
CoDecName = RealVideo9
CoDecRate = 15.0
CoDecVersion = 1
CurrentFrameRate = 24.8
FramesDisplayed = 100.0
FramesDropped = 0
FramesLost = 0
Name = RealVideo
PostFilter = 0
SureStream = False

From that we can see that yes, the *Video* does actually seem to
be using a CoDec called "RealVideo9", so you may need to (Temporarily)
allow your RealPlayer Access to the Real Networks Site, to Download
that Codec?
I know you don't normally allow your RealPlayer (or the RealPlayer
Helper thingy) to Contact the Real Networks Sites?

If you really don't want to let it Download the newer CoDecs, there
are "ways & means" of getting them, so you can Play the newer stuff.
:-)

Now, after all that, I wonder why the BBC don't have an Alternative
Link for a .WMV (windoze media Video) Version of the Clips?
Like they do for their other Video stuff (News etc) ?

Your windoze Media Player prolly has much more Up to Date CoDecs
Installed, cos I know you (like most people) let your windoze System
Download all the Updates & stuff from the micro$oft windoze Update
Site, when it offers something.

It actually seems a little bit odd to me that so many people seem
to moan & groan a lot about (& don't like) things like RealPlayer
Accessing the Servers so as to Download Updated CoDecs & stuff,
yet they happily let (& even encourage) their windoze Installation
Contact the micro$oft Servers & Download pretty much whatever it
wants to their Machine & Install it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/features/fullstops/